Personal Accounts During the Holocaust

Even though the Jewish newspapers carried articles about Hitler and the Nazis, and even though we heard Hitler's hate-filled speeches on the radio in the town café, much of what we read and heard was met with a kind of numb disbelief. Then too, hadn't we heard this sort of hate speech for hundreds of years?

After a period of persecution, things always seemed to have returned to a workable calm. We reacted to Hitler's propaganda, therefore, with a strange mix of concern and indifference. He seemed to us a deranged man in the neighboring country who would not last long. If only Jews in Chorostkow had known what was to befall us within the next few years, I am sure we would have worked much harder at getting out of Poland and into Israel.

EXPERIENCE WITH GENTILES IN POLAND

Overall, even though there was a long history of anti-Semitism in the Ukraine, and occasionally we could feel its undercurrent, for the most part the residents of Chorostkow, Jew and Gentile, merchant and farmer, lived and worked together on good terms. There may not have been intensive socializing, and certainly inter-faith marriages were almost unheard of, but the communities were friendly.... For the sake of business and in the name of human decency, everyone made sure to go out of his way not to hurt one another.

... Of course, all this changed. Judging by our lives before the war, I could never have predicted the hatred and sadism that was directed toward the Jewish community by some Gentile neighbors. A very small number did risk their lives to save Jewish friends. But were it not for such Poles - unfortunately, a very tiny percentage of the population - I, my brother, my wife, and countless others would not be alive today to tell the story of what happened. Very few righteous Gentiles risked their lives and the lives of their children to hide Jews, and unlike Oskar Schindler, most of them have not become famous for the good deeds. They remain unknown except to those Jews who owe them their lives.

GETTING PAPERS

Rabbi Eliyahu Ellis:

My dad told me a story once. He was a young man living in Germany at the time, and he worked in a big department store. He said that one day he was working late, and the boss told him to stay overtime.

Everyone went home, and my dad and his boss were the only ones left in the store. And then the boss said, "Pull down all the shutters, let’s black-out the store." So they did. He waited a couple of hours after dark. Up pulled an S.S. command car, and out popped, very quickly, an S.S. general and his wife. They ran into the store, and my dad’s boss closed and locked the door. What was going on? When my dad was young, he was an athlete. He was a very, very good soccer player on the regional soccer team. Apparently, the S.S. general had seen him play one time, and really admired my dad. So, while his wife was shopping around in the store, he wanted to chat with my dad. So my dad asked him, "Please, Mr. General, what in the world are you doing, coming here to shop?" So the general said, "I like to come to Jewish stores because I know I’m going to get a good deal." It was a crazy time!

In fact, it’s a good thing that this connection was made, because my dad actually got out of Germany through him. It was very hard to get out during those later years. But he finally found a route out. However, there was a problem: My dad’s papers were held up somewhere, he just couldn’t get them. So he asked his boss if he could approach the S.S. general, maybe get some "protectzia," and the boss said, "Fine." So my dad went up to the fellow, and he said, "Can you help me out?"

The S.S. general said, "Don’t worry, you’re under my personal protection." My dad thanked him very much, but said, "I think I should leave," and this general agreed. A day later, his papers showed up.

HOW TO TELL A JEW

Things are lively in Mr. Birkmann's 7th grade boys' class today. The teacher is talking about the Jews. Mr. Birkmann has drawn pictures of Jews on the blackboard. The boys are fascinated. Even the laziest of them, "Emil the Snorer," is paying attention, not sleeping, as he so often does during other subjects. Mr. Birkmann is a good teacher. All the children like him. They are happiest when he talks about the Jews. Mr. Birkmann can do that well. He learned about the Jews from life. He knows how to put it in gripping terms such that the favorite hour of the day is the "Jewish hour." Mr. Birkmann looks at the clock.

"It is noon," he says. "We should summarize what we have learned in the past hour. What have we talked about?"

All the children raise their hands. The teacher calls on Karl Scholz, a small lad in the front row. "We have talked about how to recognize the Jews."

"Good. Say more!"

Little Karl reaches for the pointer, steps up to the board and points at the drawings.

"One can most easily tell a Jew by his nose. The Jewish nose is bent at its point. It looks like the number six. We call it the Jewish six. Many non-Jews also have bent noses. But their noses bend upwards, not downwards. Such a nose is a hook nose or an eagle nose. It is not at all like a Jewish nose."

"Right!" says the teacher. "But the nose is not the only way to recognize a Jew..."

The boy goes on. "One can also recognize a Jew by his lips. His lips are usually puffy. The lower lip often protrudes. The eyes are different too. The eyelids are mostly thicker and more fleshy than ours. The Jewish look is wary and piercing. One can tell from his eyes that is is a deceitful person."

The teacher calls on another lad. He is Fritz Müller, and is the best in the class. He goes to the board and says:

"Jews are usually small to mid-sized. They have short legs. Their arms are often very short too. Many Jews are bow-legged and flat-footed. They often have a low, slanting forehead, a receding forehead. Many criminals have such a receding forehead. The Jews are criminals too. Their hair is usually dark and often curly like a Negro's. Their ears are very large, and they look like the handles of a coffee cup."

The teacher turns to the students.

"Pay attention, children. Why does Fritz always say 'many Jews have bow legs', or 'they often have receding foreheads,' or 'their hair is usually dark'?"

Heinrich Schmidt, a large, strong boy in the last row speaks.

"Every Jew does not have these characteristics. Some do not have a proper Jewish nose, but real Jewish ears. Some do not have flat feet, but real Jewish eyes. Some Jews cannot be recognized at first glance. There are even some Jews with blond hair. If we want to be sure to recognize Jews, we must look carefully. But when one looks carefully, one can always tell it is a Jew."

"Very good," the teacher says. "And now tell me about other ways to tell Jews from non-Jews. Richard, come up here!"

Richard Krause, a smiling blond lad, goes to the board. He says: "One can recognize a Jew from his movements andbehavior. The Jew moves his head back and forth. His gait is shuffling and unsteady. The Jew moves his hands when he talks. He 'jabbers.' His voice is often odd. He talks through his nose. Jews often have an unpleasant sweetish odor. If you have a good nose, you can smell the Jews." The teacher is satisfied.

"That's how it is, kids. You have paid attention! If you pay attention outside school and keep your eyes open, you won't be fooled by the Jews."

The teacher goes to the lectern and turns the board. On the other side a poem is written. The children read it out loud:

"From a Jew's face
The wicked Devil speaks to us,
The Devil who, in every country,
Is known as an evil plague.

Would we from the Jew be free,
Again be cheeful and happy,
Then must youth fight with us
To get rid of the Jewish Devil."

After the morning roll call we were marched downtown, under heavy guard, for work. Even under those circumstances it felt good to be out of the ghetto and breathe fresh air. At the same time we felt our deprivation at the sight of the unchanged world going on around us: normal people living normal lives. We passed carefree children playing in the streets; toddlers led by their mothers, chatting and giggling, unafraid of sudden, forced separation. There were grandmothers pushing their infant grandchildren's carriages, exuding joy and anticipation; young people holding hands, smiling and conversing, facing the future with confidence. We marched on.

Jewish homes occupied by the Poles. Jewish businesses taken over by the Germans. And the Jews themselves, plundered of their joys, torn from their families, dressed in tatters, degraded, hunted, and herded like animals. They would extract some work from us, squeeze the last drop of blood from our veins, and then finally discard the useless bodies.

Yes, there was still a normal world outside the ghetto walls. There the Poles, laughing and jeering, relished the sight of the ravaged, tattered Jews. "What, are they still around?" they asked. "Hasn't Hitler killed them all off?"

WITNESS TO A NAZI'S "SPECIAL TREATMENT"

On my way home one afternoon, I found a large group of young men lined up against a wall, their hands raised.

What is it? I wondered, running over to see. A robbery? What did the boys do? Why did the Germans line them up in this way?

There stood a young SS officer with shining black boots, clutching a whip. He reminded me of a dog trainer glaring down at his charges, expecting them to jump on command and satisfy his lust for pain. Another SS man wielded a pair of scissors, jeering as he ripped beards off the agonized, bleeding faces.

I ran over to him, determined to stop his whip. With a scornful laugh he pointed at the bleeding, half-shorn boys.

"Fraulein," he addressed me with a nonchalant smile, "haben sie schon so was gesehen in Zwansigsten Jahrhunderd? So was in Zwanzigsten Jahrhunderd," he repeated. "Did you ever see anything like that in the twentieth century?" He meant the beards.

No, it wasn't a twentieth-century scene, and I had never seen its like: "Nein, ich habe niemahls so was gesehen in Zwanzigsten Jahrhunderd," I answered with disgust, stressing "so was" to refer to his ugly deed.

His smile faded as he realized the meaning of my words. He glared at me, fingering his whip. I expected it to come down across my face. Instead, he spun on his heels. "Come on, Fritz," he said to his companion. "Let's find other ones and have some more fun." He saluted me lightly as he stalked off. How cultured these Germans were, how gentlemanly.

It was the first time my blue eyes had saved me; the brute had mistaken me for a Polish girl. It was also the first time I had witnessed German bestiality.

THE POISONOUS MUSHROOM

This story is from a Nazi children's book designed to teach hatred of Jews. It was put out by Julius Streicher, who specialized in anti-Semitic propoganda. He was convicted in the Nuremberg trials, 1946, and executed for his role in the Holocaust.

A mother and her young boy are gathering mushrooms in the German forest. The boy finds some poisonous ones. The mother explains that there are good mushrooms and poisonous ones, and, as they go home, says:

"Look, Franz, human beings in this world are like the mushrooms in the forest. There are good mushrooms and there are good people. There are poisonous, bad mushrooms and there are bad people. And we have to be on our guard against bad people just as we have to be on guard against poisonous mushrooms. Do you understand that?"

"Yes, mother," Franz replies. "I understand that in dealing with bad people trouble may arise, just as when one eats a poisonous mushroom. One may even die!"

"And do you know, too, who these bad men are, these poisonous mushrooms of mankind?" the mother continued.

Franz slaps his chest in pride: "Of course I know, mother! They are the Jews! Our teacher has often told us about them."

The mother praises her boy for his intelligence, and goes on to explain the different kinds of "poisonous" Jews: the Jewish pedlar, the Jewish cattle-dealer, the Kosher butcher, the Jewish doctor, the baptised Jew, and so on.

"However they disguise themselves, or however friendly they try to be, affirming a thousand times their good intentions to us, one must not believe them. Jews they are and Jews they remain. For our Volk they are poison."

"Yes, my child! Just as a single poisonous mushrooms can kill a whole family, so a solitary Jew can destroy a whole village, a whole city, even an entire Volk."

Franz has understood.

"Tell me, mother, do all non-Jews know that the Jew is as dangerous as a poisonous mushroom?"

Mother shakes her head.

"Unfortunately not, my child. There are millions of non-Jews who do not yet know the Jews. So we have to enlighten people and warn them against the Jews. Our young people, too, must be warned. Our boys and girls must learn to know the Jew. They must learn that the Jew is the most dangerous poison-mushroom in existence. Just as poisonous mushrooms spring up everywhere, so the Jew is found in every country in the world. Just as poisonous mushrooms often lead to the most dreadful calamity, so the Jew is the cause of misery and distress, illness and death."

The author then concludes this story by pointing the moral:

German youth must learn to recognise the Jewish Poison-mushroom. They must learn what a danger the Jew is for the German Volk and for the whole world. They must learn that the Jewish problem involves the destiny of us all.

"The following tales tell the truth about the Jewish poison-mushroom. They show the many shapes the Jew assumes. They show the depravity and baseness of the Jewish race. They show the Jew for what he really is:

The Devil in human form."

from: http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/gpa/story2.htm Story from Der Giftpilz, an anti-Semitic children's book published by Julius Streicher, the publisher of Der Stürmer. He was executed as a war criminal in 1946. This summary and partial translation is taken from a 1938 publication issued by the "Friends of Europe" in London.

THE FATE OF THE JEWS OF TREMBOWLA

On April 7, 1943, about six months after my father had been taken away and murdered at Belzec, the Germans did enter Trembowla and, together with the Ukrainian police, surrounded the city. It was early morning, and nobody knew what was about to happen. Was it going to be city-wide Aktion or only a smaller roundup? Everyone who could, escaped into hiding. Some wanted to run to the nearby forests but were prevented from doing so by soldiers and policemen stationed all around the city. Arie went into a bunker with about forty or fifty people; thank G-d, they were never discovered by the Germans.

My mother, of blessed memory, refused to go underground, and at fifty-four years of age, she would not even consider trying to survive in the forest. So she, along with about 1,100 Jews that included my aunts, uncles, and cousins, was rounded up. The Germans decided that transporting this group to Belzec would be too costly. Instead, 1,100 people were ordered to undress and then, in underwear, were marched through the city of Trembowla to a little village called Plebanowka, about two kilometers outside the city limits.

My mother had a heavy gold chain and some money with her. She gave these valuables to my little cousin, Herzale, who was about seven years old. When the group passed a small bridge, she told Herzale to hide underneath, instructing him to wait until dark and then find Arie back in Trembowla and give him the packet of money. Herzale did just as he was told and managed to survive until two months before liberation when Anna Bartestka, a woman in town, betrayed his whereabouts for five kilos of sugar.

Ditches had already been dug for the Jews from the Trembowla ghetto. The group was lined up at the edge of the ditches, and each received one bullet apiece before falling into the grave. The soldiers were instructed not to waste any more bullets. A Jew, they were told, was not worth two or three bullets. As a result, some people were not dead when they fell into the ditches. The Germans covered the corpses with dirt.

When I came back after liberation, the local Ukrainian peasants told me that for days they could see the earth moving in this mass grave since many of the Jews had been buried alive. Some of these poor souls may have clawed their way out, but the local residents did not lift a finger to help them; indeed, they may well have finished off any who did manage to escape from the mound of corpses.

A day after the massacre, a young woman from Plebanowka, Nusia Grossberg, who was nineteen years old, came to the site of the mass grave and sat beside it crying all night. Her mother, three sisters, and little brother had been killed and were among the pile of corpses. Nusia wept as the mass grave moved up and down, not caring if the Nazis found her. She, too, wanted to die.

In the morning, a peasant woman taking her cows to pasture found the young woman sobbing by the graveside.

"Run away," the peasant told her. "There's nothing you can do for them. Save yourself. You're young. You can live."

After protesting, Nusia did run away. Today, she lives in Brooklyn with her two children and grandchildren.

The final liquidation of the ghetto in Trembowla took place in July 1943. After the liberation, only fifty or sixty people from the entire community had survived.

And so our beloved mother was also gone. My mother who had lived only for her family, who worked so hard alongside my father in the store, who would have walked to the ends of the earth to save her children, was no longer with us. I had not even finished saying Kaddish for my father when I had to begin praying for my mother. Now, only Arie and I were left. And who knew for how much longer.

SRULIK AND THE TORAH SCROLLS

An area of the square was designated as the gathering point for the booty. There were already a few Torah scrolls there, some shining in beautifully embroidered white silk, others clothed in gold or purple velvet embellished with golden thread, others still adorned with silver crowns. There they lay, their majesty and glory still evident, among the other objects stolen from the shuls of Miodowa Street.

Now they dragged out little Yisrael, Srulik the barber.... "Come on, verfluchter Jude! Dirty Jew!" they screamed. "Hurry up, you lazy swine, there's a lot of work to do. Gather all the silver and gold in one pile, the candelabra and candlesticks in another.... Now put all the crowns in another pile."

Yisrael stooped and picked up the one with the white silk mantle, prostrate in the dust, still dressed with majesty and glory for the High Holidays. He lifted the Torah to his heart, hands shaking, heart pounding: now she is all mine. He hugged her with all his strength, kissing her with awe and love.

"Now undress it and spit in its face!" the beast roared. "Do you hear me? Step on it; kick it!" Srulik was oblivious to the obscenities all around. He hugged his Torah closer and closer.

"Do as I command or I'll kill you!" the thug bellowed.

"How can you tell me to disgrace her, you stupid Nazi? Don't you know us?" Srulik embraced his beloved Torah and danced with her. He hugged her with ever-increasing strength, leaping even higher, whirling with joy. Closer, closer, faster, faster he jumped with his Torah. Hundreds of anxious eyes watched from the windows, hundreds of trembling hearts prayed for a miracle. He was good-hearted and simple, this Srulik, and we all loved him.

Two shots pierced the air, and the onlookers' hearts: one for Srulik the barber, another for his Torah. Still embracing, they fell atop the other holy scrolls, Srulik and his betrothed, united in an everlasting union of love.

TWO BUCKETS

The Jews are deported to Auschwitz daily, on schedule. They leave from the ghetto embarkation depots, on schedule. Conductors signal, "All aboard." Brakemen wave lanterns. German and Hungarian guards shoot a few reluctant travelers, club and bayonet a last group of mothers into the compartments. The engineeropens his throttle. And the train is off for Auschwitz, on schedule.

Eighty Jews ride in every compartment. Eichmann [said] the Germans could do better where there were more children. Then they could jam one hundred twenty into each train room. But eighty is no reflection on German efficiency.

The eighty Jews must stand all the way to Auschwitz with their hands raised in the air, so as to make room for the maximum of passengers.

There are two buckets in each compartment. One contains water. The other is for use as a toilet, to be shoved by foot, if possible, from user to user.

I wonder here, why the water and toilet buckets? One water bucket, one toilet bucket for eighty despairing men, women and children plastered against each other as in a packing case, and riding to death. Why? One water bucket, one toilet bucket are not enough to relieve the misery of these barely living ones. Jammed together, how can they use any buckets? They must urinate and defecate in their clothes. They must continue to burn with thirst until they arrive at the gas ovens. But the buckets are there.

I look at these two buckets as some curious souvenirs. Of what? I answer hesitantly; of the fact that humanity is hard to stamp out completely. It persists. It sneaks a token of itself into each foul-smelling, Jew-jammed compartment. The two buckets are like the spoor of some wounded thing - a German memory of humanity not quite dead.

About 10,000 had been loaded into cattle cars, the floors of which were spread with deadly quicklime, bound - we found out later - for Auschwitz. The burning heat and poisonous fumes of the lime left only 400 of them alive when they reached their destination ... only to be gassed there with the other remnants of the Tarnow community....

...They cornered the mother and her frightened little boy, who clung to the hem of her white greatcoat. The color of her coat could not match the pallor of her face as the SS man approached.

"We got her!" he yelled, his fat, red face beaming with pride. "We got them, Herr Hauptscharfuhrer, the mother and the child." Proudly he turned them over to his boss.

A triumphant smile replaced the usual frigidity of Goeth's features. "I told you these Jews are smugglers," he sneered. "They smuggled in a child."

The German hero had won the battle. He had captured the Third Reich's most dangerous enemies, a helpless mother and her innocent child. Victoriously he shoved her down the two steps outside the boxcar.

The door slammed shut; again we were plunged into darkness. No one spoke. The stillness was frightening, as before a thunderstorm. Then came the inevitable. Two shots pierced the air: one for the "smuggler," the other for the eleven-year-old "contraband."

The massive body of compressed human flesh, its unified heart pulsing with love, felt the pain of helplessness, of despair and disappointment. It had offered its one hundred lives on the altar of human love and sacrifice, but could not even save one Jewish child.

Yet even now, as I witnessed the triumph of evil, I felt proud to be part of this wretched, tortured, haunted, yet great people.

CAUGHT ESCAPEES

A primitive gallows had been erected. On its platform stood six young men; hangmen were affixing nooses to their necks. I thought I recognized two of the young men: weren't they the Spielman brothers? Indeed they were. This was their "more merciful punishment."

"Look!" we were ordered from all sides. "Behold the fate of those who try to escape." I shuddered.

Then I heard one of the Spielman boys speak up. Defying the Nazis as he looked proudly into the face of death, he cried, "You can kill us, you can murder thousands of Jews, but you cannot destroy the Jewish nation. They will survive as they always have, and our G-d will take revenge for the innocent blood you've spilled!"

With this they recited Shema Yisrael, managing to proclaim "Hashem Echad - the L-rd is One" before they died.

ARRIVAL AT A LABOR CAMP

... One of the policemen told me that we were headed to Chortkow, a town about twenty five kilometers away, although he wouldn't say why. Nor would he tell us our exact destination.

All along the way, men tried to escape. Each one was caught and brutally beaten by the Ukrainian police. We had been rounded up at nine o'clock in the morning, and by the time we reached Chortkow it was evening. We had spent the entire day walking in the bitter snow without food or rest. Everyone was thoroughly exhausted.

We were taken to a jailhouse. There we had to pass through a receiving line of SS soldiers and Ukrainian police, each with a rifle or stick, each waiting for a turn to hit a Jew on the head. There were about eighty of them, and it took a long time for a Jew to make his way through the line, being clobbered by everyone. If you were by chance hit on the neck or chest and not on your head, you had to go back and give the soldier another chance to "get it right."

Like everyone else, I tried to shield my face and head and lessen the force of the blows by jerking my head away a little, but this had to be done carefully; otherwise I would have had to return to the beginning of the line, and the second time I would surely have been hit even harder and more frequently. My technique seemed to make no difference, and by the time I got into the jail cell, I was bruised, cut, and bleeding. I wondered if the Germans intended to kill us or were just having fun.

After the ordeal, I was herded into a small jail cell packed with about sixty men. There was no room to sit down, let alone lie down. We had to stand, crushed one against the other, bleeding and in pain, frightened and hungry. All told, there were some five hundred men from the entire vicinity in the jailhouse, with every cell packed as tightly as ours.

We stood packed together like that all night, and in the morning we were sure we would be let out a little and given some food, but we were wrong. Nothing changed. The entire second day and night we stood, jammed together, hungry beyond belief. On the third day, we began to talk about how the Germans meant to kill us. One way or another, from starvation or lack of oxygen, we thought we would die locked up like this.

Many of the men began to recite Shma Yisrael, a prayer Jews are commanded to say, when possible, before death. Just then the Germans opened the door to the cell and took us out. Everyone stretched his limbs and gulped the fresh air. Although we were still starving and parched with thirst, the freedom from being pressed up against other bodies on all sides felt wonderful. Then one German began to toss pieces of bread at us, like one would throw scraps to a dog from the dinner table. Men hurled themselves at the bread, like animals, and stuffed it into their mouths before anyone else could steal it. A tub was filled with water, and we all drank from it, like cattle at a trough. But no sooner than we began lapping the water, a German came over and started beating us, yelling: "Let's go, let's go." They permitted us just one sip of water after three days of extreme thirst, and then administered more beatings. I will never forget the sight of this tub and men bending over to drink.

We were made to run from the jailhouse to a railroad station about a kilometer away. All along the way the German soldiers were free with their clubs and boots. At any moment one could be felled by a blow to the neck or a kick in the side, so despite our weakened state, we ran as fast as we could. When we got to the train station, we saw cattle cars on the tracks. There were no steps or ramps leading to the doors, so the SS officers beat the people at the front yelling, "Crouch down, crouch down," to get them down on all fours and form human steps for the rest of the crowd behind them to climb.

Once the human staircases were made, the Germans yelled and clubbed the rest of us to hurry into the cars. They were beating us so hard and their voices sounded so vicious that we had no choice but to obey. Painfully, we were forced to step on our brethren and climb into the train. The groans and cries from the men on the ground were nearly drowned out by the screaming of the SS and the cracking whips.

It took quite a while to fill the cattle cars. We were packed in tight, much as we had been in the jail cell, and all the while we were being beaten and clubbed by the Germans. About 120 men were squeezed into each car, the only improvement over the jail being that there was enough room for two men at a time to sit down and take a rest.

When the Germans were satisfied that enough of us had been packed into each car, they threw in some bread and swung the doors shut. I heard them lock us in from the outside. In my town at that time, we had not heard of the death camps of Auschwitz or Majdanek, nor did we know of the "Final Solution." We knew the Germans intended to use Jews as work horses, but we were unaware of plans for extermination.

The few who managed to get hold of a piece of bread ate it quickly; the rest of us turned away and tried not to think of the emptiness in our stomachs. We had already gone three full days without any food and only a small sip of water.

We sat idly in that sealed cattle car for hours. Despite the cold March winds outside, it quickly grew hot inside, and again the lack of oxygen threatened everyone. Whoever was lucky enough to be standing by the walls could try and draw fresh air from between the cracks of the cattle car. Then we took turns so that more of us would have a chance to breathe a little better.

Finally, the train started to roll. We traveled for three days in these terrible conditions until the doors opened again. We had been brought to the labor camp Kamionka located near the city of Tarnopol, about fifty kilometers away from Chorostkow. Normally, it would have taken only about three hours to travel from Chortkow to Kamionka, but the Germans had shuttled the train back and forth between many small stations and made long stops on the tracks to torture us further. They wanted to break our spirits with three awful days where there was no place other than the floor beneath our feet to heed the call of nature, no food, no information, no sense of destination. They wanted to make us believe we were really not part of the human race, as Hitler (and the hundreds of Amaleks in history before him) had been shouting for years. They hoped to convince us that we were truly a sub-species, that we were vermin.

What was behind this madness? Why were we suffering? Where was G-d? Where were the British and the Americans? But even as we stood in our waste, we knew we were human beings, "b'nai adam," and that we were Jews. When all the other vicious empires in the world had their fill of our blood, when they had disappeared from the earth, leaving behind only piles of stones and stories in history books, we, who had been around since the beginning and whose land at that time was a pile of stones - and whose books much of the world coveted and embraced as truth - we still had more than books and stones to show for ourselves. We were still living and procreating, generation after generation.

Although I did not yet comprehend the evil of the "Final Solution" or suspect that a full third of our people would ultimately be slaughtered, still I knew that the Jewish people, stiff-necked and faithful, were not easily pushed off the world stage. We were major players, despite our small numbers, and we would survive this latest onslaught, much as we had survived every previous exile and persecution.

After three wrenching days, the doors to the cattle cars were finally opened, and we were greeted with a flood of light, fresh air, and ear-piercing screams ordering us out.

"Los schnell! Los schnell!" the Germans screamed. "Do it fast, do it fast," all the while beating us with sticks and rifle butts. Again, there were no ramps or stairs and we had to jump about four or five feet from the rail car to the ground. Then we struggled to get up as quickly as possible before being kicked by the German soldiers standing nearby. We were starving, dehydrated, and weak. Still, once the cars were cleared of their human cargo, we were made to run two kilometers to the labor camp. Some men were weeping from fright, others from relief. Surprisingly, we kept up the brisk pace forced upon us and had little time to notice the landscape. When we reached the camp, though, a hush settled over the group. We looked and carefully listened. The entire area was eerily silent. The cloud of death hung over the camp that stood before us, and the fields, which in the summer were filled with corn and wheat, were gray and brown and lifeless.

AT THE WORK SITE

During the long hike to the "work site," two-legged beasts in handsome human skins struck their charges left and right at random, just for fun. Their dogs, enormous, well-trained German shepherds, trotted after their masters, eagerly awaiting a command. At the slightest hint they leapt at the victim and tore him limb from limb; just as senselessly and randomly as their masters did; just for fun.

Ruchka's beating had undermined her mental equilibrium. Hurting all over, she turned to us with the repeated plaint: "Will I ever be able to think normally? Will my mind still work? Will I be normal again?"

...We plunged the rakes into the mud, wincing at their weight when we tried to lift them. Then, as we approached the wheelbarrow, the mud leaked away between the prongs until little was left. Again we bent, aiming for the thickest mud. Even so, little of it reached the wheelbarrow. Again and again we strained our emaciated bodies. I observed my friends at this hopeless, disgusting, senseless work, whose only purpose was to torment, and another tragic scene from long ago came to mind: a picture from a history book, masses of broken Jewish slaves in Egypt building cities for Pharaoh. The caption was "And straw for brick-making they did not supply."

CHANUKAH IN AUSCHWITZ

It was Chanukah time. Where would we get the candles? Suggestions poured forth: we could easily make wicks by extracting threads from our garments; margarine could be melted down for oil.

Visitor Comments: 12

it's the horrible truth.. a decaying society must show decay, anyways..

Absaloutly horrible. My grandpa was caught into the middle of this.. it's sick, to think what these men did to jews.. just sick.. rip all those who died; you died with pride.

(7)
Sean Seamus,
November 16, 2011 3:14 PM

Hold on......

Okay, I do know that the Holocaust wasa horrendous, and if I were there I would have helped the Jewish people, but the 2nd to last story, looks like that these people are blaming the Holocaust on England and America. We didn't know of the atrocities until late 1943 and even then they were rumors. I know this because my Great-grandfather helped liberate one of their death camps. But really, stop trying to pin this on the Allied Powers. It really wasn't our fault

Andrea Eller,
June 19, 2012 8:24 PM

Plenty of blame to go around....

From http://www.hirhome.com/israel/leaders1.htm#_ftnref4
A January 1943 headline in the New York Times announced, “Liquidation Day Set For France’s Jews,”[4] and another in February blared “Total Nazi Executions Are Put at 3,400,000; Poland With 2,500,000 Victims, Tops List,” followed by the explanation, in the body of the article, that in Poland “1,000,000 Jews were said to have been killed or permitted to die in concentration camps.”[5] This was, of course, precisely what Adolf Hitler had promised he would do in Mein Kampf and in his speeches: annihilate the European Jewish population. And yet, the Allies were doing worse than nothing to help stop the genocide.[6]
Then there was the good Reform "Rabbi" Steven Wise, the leader of organized [Reform] American Jewry”[19]”… who said, “I would rather have my fellow Jews die in Germany…”[1]
Said on the eve of the Nazi genocide by “Reform Rabbi Stephen Wise, 24a], in reply to British prime minister Neville Chamberlain’s suggestion that Jewish refugees from Hitler might settle in Tanganyika.
Stephen Wise got his wish.
Reform leaders, including Stephen Wise, saved Hitler from a boycott that ordinary Jews around the world were organizing.
From: http://matzav.com/rabbi-kestenbaum-speaks-of-astounding-misdeeds-of-reform-rabbi-stephen-wise-during-holocaust
The elderly Rabbi Ephraim Kestenbaum, son of Rabbi David Kestenbaum who was active in saving European Jews during the Holocaust, recently spoke publicly for the first time regarding the American [REFORM] Jewish leadership’s outrageous actions during that period. Rabbi Kestenbaum provided what may be the most damning evidence yet of Stephen Wise’s treacherous actions. Rabbi Kirshenbaum stated that Wise phoned his father, Rabbi David Kestenbaum several [times] telling him that he should stop putting so much pressure on the U.S. government to save European Jews.
Rabbi Kestenbaum stated...Roosevelt would have done more to save Jews were it not for Wise’s actions.

Nick,
July 12, 2012 2:41 AM

Link to Wikipedia Article on Aushwitz Bombing Debate: What Did the Allies Know and When Did They Know It

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auschwitz_bombing_debate

(6)
susan wilkins,
July 28, 2011 4:04 PM

I look at the poor children and wish I could have helped even one of them to be able to live a life to the full, the pain the suffering I am glad I have never had to endure that in my life. We can not undo what has been done as sad as that is, I will continue to make as many people as as happy as I can to be alive and living a lovely life.

(5)
len,
May 29, 2011 2:23 PM

unbelievable but unfortunately all true.

(4)
Joe Phillips,
May 28, 2011 4:41 AM

Be Aware

I see in our world today,anti-semitisim has not gone away.It may perhaps be even stronger.Our brothers the Israelis are surrounded by those who would do this again.Let us be aware and be ready to stop this from ever happening again.

(3)
Zizine,
July 28, 2010 6:54 PM

Not Very Long Ago

Action Speaks Louder than Words. The Bosnian ethnic cleansing was not long ago. So, let's stop the usuan platitudes of "Let Us Not Forget", "Those who forget....blah, blah, blah...

Anonymous,
November 17, 2011 4:35 AM

Re: The Bosnian ethnic Cleansing

I agree with you, they said it would never happen again, but it did. Just words by the higher powers, war is always to benefit someone and the people suffer horrendously. Luckily I have never had to experience war as yet, but my breaks for any person that has. God Bless.

(2)
Brett Johnson,
July 17, 2010 9:31 PM

We Must Always Remember

I read with great sadness the story presented here. Sadness and hatred. Sadness for the millions of people who suffered at the hands of Nazis; hatred for those who had a hand in the attempted genocide of an entire people. All of us, Jewish and non-Jewish alike, owe it to our children, and our children's children, to understand the senseless horrors of the Holocaust and why we have a moral responsibility to stand up for those who find themselves the victims of hatred and racism. At the same time, we must always remember what happened not so long ago. I know I do, as disturbing and horrific it may be.

I just got married and have an important question: Can we eat rice on Passover? My wife grew up eating it, and I did not. Is this just a matter of family tradition?

The Aish Rabbi Replies:

The Torah instructs a Jew not to eat (or even possess) chametz all seven days of Passover (Exodus 13:3). "Chametz" is defined as any of the five grains (wheat, spelt, barley, oats, and rye) that came into contact with water for more than 18 minutes. Chametz is a serious Torah prohibition, and for that reason we take extra protective measures on Passover to prevent any mistakes.

Hence the category of food called "kitniyot" (sometimes referred to generically as "legumes"). This includes rice, corn, soy beans, string beans, peas, lentils, peanuts, mustard, sesame seeds and poppy seeds. Even though kitniyot cannot technically become chametz, Ashkenazi Jews do not eat them on Passover. Why?

Products of kitniyot often appear like chametz products. For example, it can be hard to distinguish between rice flour (kitniyot) and wheat flour (chametz). Also, chametz grains may become inadvertently mixed together with kitniyot. Therefore, to prevent confusion, all kitniyot were prohibited.

In Jewish law, there is one important distinction between chametz and kitniyot. During Passover, it is forbidden to even have chametz in one's possession (hence the custom of "selling chametz"). Whereas it is permitted to own kitniyot during Passover and even to use it - not for eating - but for things like baby powder which contains cornstarch. Similarly, someone who is sick is allowed to take medicine containing kitniyot.

What about derivatives of kitniyot - e.g. corn oil, peanut oil, etc? This is a difference of opinion. Many will use kitniyot-based oils on Passover, while others are strict and only use olive or walnut oil.

Finally, there is one product called "quinoa" (pronounced "ken-wah" or "kin-o-ah") that is permitted on Passover even for Ashkenazim. Although it resembles a grain, it is technically a grass, and was never included in the prohibition against kitniyot. It is prepared like rice and has a very high protein content. (It's excellent in "cholent" stew!) In the United States and elsewhere, mainstream kosher supervision agencies certify it "Kosher for Passover" -- look for the label.

Interestingly, the Sefardi Jewish community does not have a prohibition against kitniyot. This creates the strange situation, for example, where one family could be eating rice on Passover - when their neighbors will not. So am I going to guess here that you are Ashkenazi and your wife is Sefardi. Am I right?

Yahrtzeit of Rabbi Moses ben Nachman (1194-1270), known as Nachmanides, and by the acronym of his name, Ramban. Born in Spain, he was a physician by trade, but was best-known for authoring brilliant commentaries on the Bible, Talmud, and philosophy. In 1263, King James of Spain authorized a disputation (religious debate) between Nachmanides and a Jewish convert to Christianity, Pablo Christiani. Nachmanides reluctantly agreed to take part, only after being assured by the king that he would have full freedom of expression. Nachmanides won the debate, which earned the king's respect and a prize of 300 gold coins. But this incensed the Church: Nachmanides was charged with blasphemy and he was forced to flee Spain. So at age 72, Nachmanides moved to Jerusalem. He was struck by the desolation in the Holy City -- there were so few Jews that he could not even find a minyan to pray. Nachmanides immediately set about rebuilding the Jewish community. The Ramban Synagogue stands today in Jerusalem's Old City, a living testimony to his efforts.

It's easy to be intimidated by mean people. See through their mask. Underneath is an insecure and unhappy person. They are alienated from others because they are alienated from themselves.

Have compassion for them. Not pity, not condemning, not fear, but compassion. Feel for their suffering. Identify with their core humanity. You might be able to influence them for the good. You might not. Either way your compassion frees you from their destructiveness. And if you would like to help them change, compassion gives you a chance to succeed.

It is the nature of a person to be influenced by his fellows and comrades (Rambam, Hil. De'os 6:1).

We can never escape the influence of our environment. Our life-style impacts upon us and, as if by osmosis, penetrates our skin and becomes part of us.

Our environment today is thoroughly computerized. Computer intelligence is no longer a science-fiction fantasy, but an everyday occurrence. Some computers can even carry out complete interviews. The computer asks questions, receives answers, interprets these answers, and uses its newly acquired information to ask new questions.

Still, while computers may be able to think, they cannot feel. The uniqueness of human beings is therefore no longer in their intellect, but in their emotions.

We must be extremely careful not to allow ourselves to become human computers that are devoid of feelings. Our culture is in danger of losing this essential aspect of humanity, remaining only with intellect. Because we communicate so much with unfeeling computers, we are in danger of becoming disconnected from our own feelings and oblivious to the feelings of others.

As we check in at our jobs, and the computer on our desk greets us with, "Good morning, Mr. Smith. Today is Wednesday, and here is the agenda for today," let us remember that this machine may indeed be brilliant, but it cannot laugh or cry. It cannot be happy if we succeed, or sad if we fail.

Today I shall...

try to remain a human being in every way - by keeping in touch with my own feelings and being sensitive to the feelings of others.

With stories and insights,
Rabbi Twerski's new book Twerski on Machzor makes Rosh Hashanah prayers more meaningful. Click here to order...